4000 award for hurt feelings over headscarf.......do you care what your hairdresser does with her hair or her beliefs?

[zippitippitoes]

..............struck me as an odd story this

here

"A giant islamic headress"?

So it's not possible to be stylish and wear a headscarf. Interesting. I honestly feel like I'm reading the Daily Mail.

It is possible to be stylish and wear a headscarf, it is not possible to show your funky stylish hair if you wear a headscarf.

Of course. I just don't like the suggestion that wearing a headscarf means you can't be stylish.

Personally I don't see why hairdressers need to show their hair. It's not like they cut it themselves, and it's not the only way of showing that they're funky and could give good advice. It's the overall feel of a salon I look for, presumably there are other members of staff working there who do show their hair.

I can see there are some here who agree with that, and some who don't. Fine either way. But it is possible to wear a headscarf and be stylish.

I listened to 5 minutes of LBC today and this was the topic.

A girl called in to say she went for a jopb at Next and they explained she would have to wear the Next clothing as her uniform. She was a size 22 at the time. Next only go up to 16 (?). She realised she wouldn't be able to take the job. Should she have sued Next?

Was the only reason the woman was declined a job at hairdressers becasue she wore a headress , or could she just not really have come across as a suitable candiate for other reasons, perhaps????

actuakkt next go up to at least 20

well the other point was that the employer wanted someone local to kings cross and she lived in acton

When I choose a new hairdresser it is partly based on the hairstyles on display. Of course they don't cut their own hair but you can get an idea of their personal style and the general quality of the salon. Each stylist is a walking testament to a colleague's skill.

Belgo, I think they mean to have either bold colour/ highlights etc as an advertisement both for the salon and your own ability to keep up with trends.

Peagreene. I'm sure it's possible to be stylish despite wearing a headscarf. Given that it reduces your choices it must make it more difficult. Anything that reduces your choices would if you see what I mean.
Other people can get up in the morning and think "Hmm I'll wear a headscarf today" or "Hmm I won't wear a headscarf today" but some people don't have a choice.

It may be possible to be stylish in a conservative sort of way with a headscarf, but it is not possible, in my opinion, to be funky, punky and rebellious in your style with a large arrangement of closefitting black cloth and elaborate fringed drapery, as displayed by the very easily offended woman in this case. It says, I am religious, conservative, and strongly morally disapproving of women showing hair in public, and the latter, in particular, would absolutely put me off.

Yes the disapproval would be a problem. I'm afraid it's like carrying a sign saying "if you show your hair you're a slut"

Yes, you are a slut and you are going to hell!

you know... i would never get a hairdresser whose hair i couldn't see to cut my hair. i just wouldn't. i remember my pal saying that a hairdresser of hers got alopecia and had to wear a scarf and while she kept her old clients, she never got new ones if her receptionist pointed her out on the shop floor.

it's human nature, innit? which is odd as of course hairdressers don't actually cut their own hair...

I haven't seen the woman concerned. I'm making a general point about headscarves on their own, not her particular clothes.

MsDemeanour, why do you keep saying things like "large arrangement" and "giant headdress" ?

I was just coming on to make a very similar point MsDemenour. Why would you be interested in a job involving styling women's hair if your personal views and religion state it is not allowed to show ones hair?

I thought they're only allowed to not show their hair to men outside the family. You've no idea what they're hiding under there. I wear lovely underwear every day but no one sees it.

Well actually i don't, but I'm just trying to prove a point

I would be happy to contribute a tenner to the small business owner's fund in order to pay the compo. If there's any left over, I'd be happy for it to be donated to the Distressed Hairdressers in Need fund or whatever it is.

Too absurd, the woman is on the make.

A friend of mine told me recently of a woman who had been offered a job at her work, who accepted it and immediately said that she wanted 26 religious holidays paid per year on top of her annual leave. She didn't want the job, she wanted compo.

lol lb with all your fancy talk of parting with cash you went and killed the thread. i'm giving nuttin' to nobody. i'm just wanting to sit and judge people on the internet.

[lol]

I used to get my hair cut by a Turkish lady who wore a headscarf, and spoke no English. She was the best hairdresser I have ever come across. I was a bit nervous the first time, but blown away by the result.
I cried buckets when she went back to Turkey.
I wear a headscarf now myself, and I visit a hairdresser who does not wear one, and she does annoy me slightly looking at her own hair continuously while cutting mine

I remember when this all started months ago. The girl had applied for lots of jobs and had been repeatedly turned down. It seems that this hairdresser was the first one to point out to her why this was happening. She wasn't the first to make this business decision, she was just the one who was polite enough to explain why she was constantly being rejected.

That's what you get for trying to be nice to a job applicant.

As I read the press reports, the Tribunal accepted that the headdress was NOT the reason she was not hired. If it had been, she would have got a loss of earnings award too.

As I understand it, the injury to feelings award was for being treated less favourably in the interview (i.e. talking about the issue). As Slug said, if the salon owner had kept quiet and only talked about travel, she'd have been fine...

Injury to feelings is an odd one to calculate. There are court guidelines that they will have followed to get to the £4k. Seems though. I agree with what others have said that these cases are not that helpful in terms of public perception.

"morally disapproving of women showing hair in public, and the latter, in particular, would absolutely put me off. "

"Yes, you are a slut and you are going to hell!"

wearing a scarf, does by no means demonstrates that you believe either of the above statements about women who choose not to, i find the second one just plain silly